Councils are to be given greater powers to block new vape and betting shops from opening on high streets, under government plans announced by Prime Minister Andy Burnham aimed at tackling the decline of town centres.
Under the proposals, every new shop selling e-cigarettes in England would need to apply to its local council for planning permission before opening. The definition of a vape shop would also be tightened to stop businesses avoiding the rules by describing themselves as general convenience stores or retailers.
Councils across Great Britain would gain the power to refuse new betting shops and 24-hour slot machine outlets, following the scrapping of a rule known as "aim to permit", which currently limits local authorities' ability to reject such applications. In England, new adult gaming centres offering 24-hour access to gambling machines would also require planning permission.
The government also plans to extend closure orders for mini-marts and vape shops found selling illegal tobacco, allowing them to be shut for up to twelve months in England and Wales. The measure was previously proposed by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Burnham said town centres had been "hollowed out" by decades of decline, adding: "For many people, the high streets they grew up with have become unrecognisable."
He said "the rise of vape shops, betting shops and rogue operators have replaced the shops, services, and community spaces that people are crying out for", adding: "That's not on. I said we would improve Britain's high streets, and that's exactly what we are starting to do. We're putting communities back in control and giving local people a real say over what opens on their high street."
The announcement comes as the prime minister begins a tour of the UK, with Downing Street saying he will be in "listening mode" during visits as he develops a "10-year plan to bring back hope".
It follows 18 months of BBC News reporting exposing organised crime linked to high street shops, including the sale of illegal cigarettes and vapes, drug dealing, illegal working and suspected money laundering. The National Crime Agency estimates that at least £1bn of criminal cash is laundered through UK high street stores each year through businesses connected to fake goods, tax evasion, illegal working and drug supply.
In April, the BBC joined the NCA during raids on barbers, mini-marts and vape shops amid growing intelligence about money laundering and illegal working. Previous BBC investigations uncovered underground tunnels supplying illegal cigarettes to shops in Hull, and Freedom of Information requests revealing that 3,700 illegal shops had operated across the UK.
Further reporting last November exposed asylum seekers buying and selling high street mini-marts for cash, criminal figures erasing £60,000 illegal working fines, and a Kurdish organised crime gang operating across Britain. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood subsequently launched an "urgent" investigation led by the NCA, Immigration Enforcement, HMRC and police forces, saying the BBC's evidence proved "the system was broken" and pointed to a pull factor in the small boat crisis.
In March, the BBC revealed that a senior council worker had repeatedly reported children as young as 11 being sexually abused in high street mini-marts to West Midlands authorities. Undercover reporting last month also found cocaine, cannabis, laughing gas and prescription pills being offered for sale on high streets, with one West Midlands street described by an anonymous law enforcement source as "lawless". Following that report, six mini-marts and vape shops in Cradley Heath, Sandwell, were forced to close after an investigation by police and Trading Standards.
Earlier this year, ministers announced a £30m enforcement operation targeting high street businesses suspected of money laundering, tax evasion and illegal working, with raids involving police, HMRC, Trading Standards and Immigration Enforcement taking place across the country.
Conservative shadow communities secretary Sir James Cleverly said "once-treasured shops" had been replaced by a "smattering of rogue operators", but argued that increases to business rates under Labour had left "empty units for whoever is left standing to fill". He said: "Unless the government takes steps to support the high streets and hard-working businesses, Labour's increases in planning regulation will just mean more empty and boarded up shops."
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said Burnham's plan "could go up in a puff of smoke" unless powers were toughened to "properly crack down on cowboy vape shops and dodgy operators", and called on the prime minister to scrap the business rates system.
Reform UK economy spokesman Robert Jenrick said: "Until this government scraps the jobs tax, addresses sky-high business rates and provides real, fundamental support for high street businesses, this policy will only create even more empty shops on our high streets."
A Green Party spokesperson said the proposals "look like more inadequate tinkering and reannouncements", calling on the prime minister to "go further and allow councils to introduce rent controls for small businesses".
The Betting and Gaming Council said it supported "tough action against criminal operators" and agreed "local people should have a proper say over their high streets". A spokesperson for the industry body added it was "simply wrong" to suggest betting shops were spreading "unchecked", noting that around 3,000 shops had closed since 2019.
Councillor Eamonn O'Brien, who chairs the Local Government Association, described it as "positive" that councils and communities "will get a greater say on what shops and services are found on their high streets".
